Damp and mould for landlords, and Awaab's Law

Why damp and mould need a fast, recorded response

Damp and mould can harm health, particularly for young children, older people, and anyone with a respiratory or other long-term health condition. Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s rented social housing flat in Rochdale.

The Government’s guidance for rented housing providers, Understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home, published by the housing and health departments and the UK Health Security Agency, sets the tone for private landlords as well as social ones:

Act with urgency where damp and mould is significant or there is a concern for the tenant’s health.
Don’t blame “lifestyle”. The guidance calls this totally unreasonable, and expects landlords to look for the underlying cause.
Don’t wait for medical evidence. A tenant doesn’t need a doctor’s letter before you act.
Fix the cause, not just the surface. Wiping or painting over mould won’t stop it coming back.
Keep your own records of the condition of your homes, and be proactive, whether you own one property or many.

Recording a damp or mould report

Whatever rules apply to your tenancy, the same record protects everyone: the tenant gets a clear response, and you can show what you knew, when, and what you did about it. Start the record the moment a report arrives, however it arrives.

When and how it was reported: date and time, who reported it, and how (email, text, call, portal, in person). If it was a call, write a short note straight away and send the tenant a written acknowledgement.
What the tenant describes: which rooms, where on the walls, ceilings, windows or furniture, how long it has been happening, whether it is getting worse, and any smell, leak or water staining.
Who lives there and whether anyone may be especially at risk, such as young children, older people, anyone who is pregnant, or anyone with a respiratory condition, a weakened immune system or a skin condition like eczema. Record this with care and only what you need.
Photos: ask the tenant for photos with the report, then take your own dated photos at the inspection, wide enough to show where the problem is, and close enough to show extent.
Every contact afterwards: visits arranged, access refused or rearranged, contractors booked, updates sent.

Investigating the cause

Mould is a symptom. Cleaning it off without finding out why it grew means it will almost certainly come back. An inspection should look for the likely cause, and record what was found:

Penetrating damp: water getting in from outside, through roofs, gutters and downpipes, render, pointing, window seals or door thresholds. Often shows as patches that grow after rain.
Rising damp: moisture moving up from the ground through walls, typically a tide mark near the bottom of ground-floor walls.
Leaks: plumbing, heating pipes, overflowing tanks, a bath or shower seal, or a neighbouring property.
Condensation: moisture from everyday life (cooking, showers, drying clothes, breathing) settling on cold surfaces. Usually worst on external walls, in corners, behind furniture and around windows.

Condensation is where most disagreements start, and it is rarely just about how a tenant lives. It is made worse by cold walls, poor insulation, heating that doesn’t work well or costs too much to run, and ventilation or extraction that is missing or broken. In England, the fitness for human habitation test expressly covers freedom from damp and ventilation. Record what you checked: extractor fans working and adequate for the room, trickle vents present, heating and hot water working, insulation and cold spots, gutters and downpipes, and any leaks.

Responding: a sensible timeline

Unless your tenancy is covered by specific timescales (see where Awaab’s Law stands), private landlords in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to carry out repairs within a reasonable time of becoming aware of a problem. “Reasonable” depends on how serious it is. A good benchmark is the timetable social landlords in England now have to follow. Scotland is applying similar timescales (10, 3 and 5 working days) to private landlords from October 2026:

A benchmark response timetable, modelled on Awaab’s Law for social housing in England
Stage	Benchmark	What to record
Acknowledge	Straight away, in writing	Date and time of the report and of your reply
Emergency risk	Investigate and make safe within 24 hours	What made it an emergency, what you did, and when
Investigate	Within 10 working days	Who inspected, what they found, the likely cause, dated photos
Tell the tenant	Written summary within 3 working days of the investigation	A copy of what you sent, and how
Make safe	Within 5 working days of the investigation	The work done, by whom, with before and after photos
Longer-term work	Start as soon as possible, and keep the tenant updated	Quotes, dates booked, access arrangements, completion

For a private landlord in England, Wales or Northern Ireland these numbers are good practice, not a legal deadline, as of September 2026. Following them, and recording that you did, is the clearest way to show you acted responsibly if a tenant complains, a council inspects, or a court is asked to decide.

Working with the tenant

Write down what you will do and when, and send it to the tenant. If a date slips, tell them before it passes and say why.
Give practical advice without blame. Tips on ventilation, drying clothes and using extractor fans are useful alongside repairs, never instead of them.
Give proper notice for access, and record every visit, including any access that is refused or missed, and how you tried to rearrange it.
Check back after the work. Mould that returns a few weeks later usually means the cause wasn’t fixed. A dated follow-up photo closes the record properly.

What the law already requires

None of the following depends on Awaab’s Law. They apply to private landlords today.

England Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords must keep the structure and exterior (including drains, gutters and external pipes) and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating in repair. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which added sections 9A and 10 to that Act, a home must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout it, and the test includes freedom from damp and ventilation. Tenants can take action in court. Councils can also inspect using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, where damp and mould growth is a recognised hazard, and require a landlord to deal with it.
Wales Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, landlords must keep the home fit for human habitation, and damp and mould growth is one of the matters taken into account in deciding whether it is fit. Once a landlord knows repairs are needed, they must be done within a reasonable time.
Scotland Private landlords must meet the Repairing Standard at the start of a tenancy and throughout it, and tenants can apply to the First-tier Tribunal if they don’t. From 6 October 2026 that standard includes specific damp and mould duties (below).
NI The statutory fitness standard requires a home to be free from dampness that is harmful to the health of the people living there, and councils have powers over unfit homes and disrepair in private tenancies.

Where Awaab’s Law stands (September 2026)

“Awaab’s Law” is used loosely for several different rules. What applies depends on the nation and on whether the home is socially or privately rented.

England: social housing

Since 27 October 2025, the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 have required social landlords to investigate and make safe emergency hazards within 24 hours, and, for significant damp and mould hazards, to investigate within 10 working days, give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation, and carry out work to make the home safe within 5 working days. If further work can’t start within 5 working days, it must start within 12 weeks. From 30 November 2026 the rules are due to extend to further hazards, including excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and electrical hazards, and in 2027 to the remaining hazards apart from overcrowding.

England: private renting

Not yet in force. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 gives the Government the power to apply Awaab’s Law requirements to privately rented homes (section 60), but that section hadn’t been brought into force when we reviewed this guide, and the Government has said it will consult on the details and timescales first. No start date has been announced. Separately, the new Decent Homes Standard, which includes a requirement for homes to be free of damp and mould, is due to apply to private and social rented homes from 2035.

If you let in England, the practical advice is the same either way: the existing duties above already apply, and a prompt, documented response along the lines of the timetable above puts you in a good position whatever the eventual rules require.

Wales

There are no statutory Awaab’s Law timescales for private landlords in Wales. The fitness for human habitation duty above applies. For social landlords, the Welsh Government introduced timescales for responding to hazards through the Welsh Housing Quality Standard from April 2026, and has said it is considering how to protect tenants in the private sector.

Scotland: social and private renting

Scotland has gone further. The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 come into force on 6 October 2026 and add damp and mould duties to the Repairing Standard for private landlords (and to the right to repair scheme for social tenants). For private residential tenancies:

The home must be substantially free from damp and mould.
Once aware of possible damp or mould, the landlord must have a competent person investigate within 10 working days.
The tenant must get a written summary of the findings within 3 working days of the investigation.
Any repair work needed must start within 5 working days of the investigation.
If something outside the landlord’s control prevents this, the landlord must tell the tenant in writing, with reasons, and take reasonable steps to reduce the effects of the damp and mould.

Northern Ireland

We found no Awaab’s Law equivalent for private or social tenancies in Northern Ireland as of September 2026. The fitness standard and councils’ powers above apply.

Official sources

This guide is general information for private landlords, letting agents and hosts in the UK, not legal advice. It was last reviewed in September 2026 and the rules change, so check the official sources linked above for your nation and your tenancy, and take advice from a qualified professional where a lot is at stake. How evidence is weighed in a dispute is always up to the adjudicator or court.

Damp and mould: recording reports, responding, and Awaab’s Law